PCGUY112887 Posted July 2, 2006 Report Posted July 2, 2006 So latelly i've noticed that sometimes at low-speed stops, my back right brake is making this "ekk crunch cruch pop crunch crunch crunch" sound till I stop. I know that slotted/drilled rotors with full ceramic pads can make some noise but not like this, other brakes are fairly quiet. Calipers and rotors were replaced months ago and were fine, now this has started. I'm going to pull the tire off tomorrow to see what is up but if I don't see anything, any ideas? Sorta odd that this brake was the one that initially wore down first and started rubbing which made me replace all of my rotorz/pads with better stuff, and now this one is making noise again. Maybe a caliper going bad? (I thought that happened to only early brakes). 96 Grand Prix Sedan BTW. Quote
Supreme Cutlass Posted July 3, 2006 Report Posted July 3, 2006 Sounds like you should just do a real thorough inspection of the pads and the rotor, if you're sure it's coming from the brakes. Make sure it's not the wear indicator or something bashing against the rotors. That doesn't sound too good regardless... Quote
94CutlassSLCoupe Posted July 3, 2006 Report Posted July 3, 2006 Make sure the sliders are working properly, sounds like they may be sticking Quote
97loudcut Posted July 3, 2006 Report Posted July 3, 2006 make sure your caliper bolts are tightened and not loose. freind had a sound like that and a bolt flew off and his caliper was just hanging there, Quote
blkinternational Posted July 4, 2006 Report Posted July 4, 2006 yeah same happend to me on my front left caliper my bolt came right out and it was just chillin there.. so might wanna check that out Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted July 5, 2006 Author Report Posted July 5, 2006 I checked it out, pads look perfect, rotor looks perfect, caliper appears to be fine, regreased everything real good, and I still hear the sound. It's almost as if when i'm doing a low-speed stop that the caliper isn't closing all of the way and the pad is left just rubbing on the rotor ever so slightly that it makes a "crunch" sound everytime the pad goes across one of the slots in the rotor. I'm going to do a fluid flush soon but I don't know if that's really going to help it... any other ideas? Quote
RJansen658 Posted July 6, 2006 Report Posted July 6, 2006 Well, when i first bought my Lumina it did that and it was the metal dust shield around the inside of the rear rotors. It might not do it when you free spin , but the caliper moves with your rotors, rotor may be warped? Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Posted July 7, 2006 Metal dust shield? I don't remember seeing any dust shield... pics? And the rotors are still amost brand new no way it's warped. I heard it again tonight, it's starting to sound more like a squeek from say a boot or something, but they appear fine... Quote
Crazy K Posted July 7, 2006 Report Posted July 7, 2006 dust sheilds were only on earlier models. 93 and down GP, Regal, CS, and 94 and down Lumina. mnake sure your slides aren't frozen! Quote
Q-Ball Posted July 9, 2006 Report Posted July 9, 2006 For mine it was my brake pad. It just stays a little loose. So I used this sealant from 3M and it worked. But now I am noticing another rattle in my rear right side... Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Posted July 12, 2006 Ok I really gotta fix this problem it's so annoying lol. I think this caliper has had problems before, of sorta bein stuck in the "clamping" position, becuase when I did my brakes that pad had wore down so far it snapped off the wear indicator. the others were worn but not nearly that far. Now the piston got forced back in... maybe it's not comming all of the way out now so insted of grabbing when I hit the brakes it just sorta touches the rotor and when each slot comes by and rubs the ceramic pad it makes that sound? How could I be sure the caliper is starting to seize up? (don't wanna buy a new caliper and it not fix it!). Thanks. Quote
RJansen658 Posted July 17, 2006 Report Posted July 17, 2006 Ok I really gotta fix this problem it's so annoying lol. I think this caliper has had problems before, of sorta bein stuck in the "clamping" position, becuase when I did my brakes that pad had wore down so far it snapped off the wear indicator. the others were worn but not nearly that far. Now the piston got forced back in... maybe it's not comming all of the way out now so insted of grabbing when I hit the brakes it just sorta touches the rotor and when each slot comes by and rubs the ceramic pad it makes that sound? How could I be sure the caliper is starting to seize up? (don't wanna buy a new caliper and it not fix it!). Thanks. piston got forced back in? What do you mean? W-Body rear calipers are "spin out" calipers. There is a plastic gear inside that if you just force the piston back in, it strips the teeth off of the gear. There is a special tool that applies light pressure to the piston and spins it in at the same time. Once you have it in you check to make sure the tabs on the back of the pad line up with the slots in the piston. Then you put the caliper all back together, and operate the ebrake lever on the caliper back and forth to spin the caliper piston back out and into the proper adjusted position. The "spin out" design is to keep the caliper in a constantly adjusted position. If the gear inside the caliper gets stripped out, it can and will cause a low brake pedal, and probably other problems as well. Crazy K thanks for clarifying that dust shield issue, because I know mine has them and I'm not losing my mind yet. Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted July 20, 2006 Author Report Posted July 20, 2006 When I say get forced back in, I mean if the caliper was seized up and I used to tool to push it back in while spinning it, it would have gone back in but if it was seized before and I made it go back in, woulden't it still be seized up wherever I moved it? Quote
Crazy K Posted July 20, 2006 Report Posted July 20, 2006 Crazy K thanks for clarifying that dust shield issue, because I know mine has them and I'm not losing my mind yet. I have it's flooded with car crap can you clarify what you mean when you said the piston was stuck? when You went to service the brakes had the caliper not been working? If so it may have rust on the bore which is still making the caliper sticky. if in doubt replace the caliper. Quote
Cueman Posted July 20, 2006 Report Posted July 20, 2006 Not to hijack this thread....but theoretically if the last time I did the back brakes, I just forced the pistons in with a C-clamp without turning them. Would the calipers then be junk? Quote
RJansen658 Posted July 23, 2006 Report Posted July 23, 2006 Yes they would. The self adjuster gear would be stripped, and the caliper piston would move VERY freely in the bore. It makes the pedal a lot mushier on W's when this happens, some people may not notice it. It usually doesn't cause the caliper to leak, although I have seen it happen that way, it just makes the rear brakes lose adjustment. In any case, to answer your question, yes the calipers are junk now. It is my opinion that just working isn't good enough, it has to work the WAY it was designed to. The tool isn't fool proof either, I have seen mechanics of 15+ years use the tool and still ruin the caliper. The key is to use as little downward force as possible on the caliper piston, too much and the gear will strip. I don't have any picture of the inside of the caliper but this thread makes me wish I did. There are too many people that don't know about the spin in thing. Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Posted July 31, 2006 OK WTF I still have the noise! After the new caliper it stopped for a while, now all of a sudden today it came back, louder than ever. Basically it's like a loud ass crunching/deep squeek that you can only hear when slowing down from say under 30ish mph. It *seems* like it's happening everytime the pad goes over one of the slots in the rotor, but I guess it coulden't be. It's not a constant noise, it's RUGGG RUGG RUGGG RUGGG real fast, and gets slower as I slow down. What in the freak could it be? It's driving me nuts, and now sounds like the whole brake setup will rip it's own guts out onto the street. Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted August 3, 2006 Author Report Posted August 3, 2006 *bump* anyone local wanna look at this Quote
PCGUY112887 Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Posted August 6, 2006 Another bump, someone must have an idea. Quote
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